'You will please yourself,' replied Florizel. 'The question is one between your conscience and the laws of this land. Give me my hat; and you, Mr. Rolles, give me my cane and follow me. Miss Vandeleur, I wish you good evening. I judge,' he added to Vandeleur, 'that your silence means unqualified assent.'
'If I can do no better,' replied the old man, 'I shall submit; but I warn you openly it shall not be without a struggle.'
'You are old,' said the Prince; 'but years are disgraceful to the wicked. Your age is more unwise than the youth of others. Do not provoke me, or you may find me harder than you dream. This is the first time that I have fallen across your path in anger; take care that it be the last.'
With these words, motioning the clergyman to follow, Florizel left the apartment and directed his steps towards the garden gate; and the Dictator, following with a candle, gave them light, and once more undid the elaborate fastenings with which he sought to protect himself from intrusion.
'Your daughter is no longer present,' said the Prince, turning on the threshold. 'Let me tell you that I understand your threats; and you have only to lift your hand to bring upon yourself sudden and irremediable ruin.'
The Dictator made no reply; but as the Prince turned his back upon him in the lamplight he made a gesture full of menace and insane fury; and the next moment, slipping round a corner, he was running at full speed for the nearest cab-stand.
(Here, says my Arabian, the thread of events is finally diverted from THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN BLINDS. One more adventure, he adds, and we have done with THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. That last link in the chain is known among the inhabitants of Bagdad by the name of THE ADVENTURE OF PRINCE FLORIZEL AND A DETECTIVE.)
THE ADVENTURE OF PRINCE FLORIZEL AND A DETECTIVE
Prince Florizel walked with Mr. Rolles to the door of a small hotel where the latter resided. They spoke much together, and the clergyman was more than once affected to tears by the mingled severity and tenderness of Florizel's reproaches.
'I have made ruin of my life,' he said at last. 'Help me; tell me what I am to do; I have, alas! neither the virtues of a priest nor the dexterity of a rogue.'
'Now that you are humbled,' said the Prince, 'I command no longer; the repentant have to do with God and not with princes. But if you will let me advise you, go to Australia as a colonist, seek menial labour in the open air, and try to forget that you have ever been a clergyman, or that you ever set eyes on that accursed stone.'
'Accurst indeed!' replied Mr. Rolles. 'Where is it now? What further hurt is it not working for mankind?'
'It will do no more evil,' returned the Prince. 'It is here in my pocket. And this,' he added kindly, 'will show that I place some faith in your penitence, young as it is.'
'Suffer me to touch your hand,' pleaded Mr. Rolles.
'No,' replied Prince Florizel, 'not yet.'
The tone in which he uttered these last words was eloquent in the ears of the young clergyman; and for some minutes after the Prince had turned away he stood on the threshold following with his eyes the retreating figure and invoking the blessing of heaven upon a man so excellent in counsel.
For several hours the Prince walked alone in unfrequented streets. His mind was full of concern; what to do with the diamond, whether to return it to its owner, whom he judged unworthy of this rare possession, or to take some sweeping and courageous measure and put it out of the reach of all mankind at once and for ever, was a problem too grave to be decided in a moment. The manner in which it had come into his hands appeared manifestly providential; and as he took out the jewel and looked at it under the street lamps, its size and surprising brilliancy inclined him more and more to think of it as of an unmixed and dangerous evil for the world.
'God help me!' he thought; 'if I look at it much oftener, I shall begin to grow covetous myself.'
At last, though still uncertain in his mind, he turned his steps towards the small but elegant mansion on the river-side which had belonged for centuries to his royal family. The arms of Bohemia are deeply graved over the door and upon the tall chimneys; passengers have a look into a green court set with the most costly flowers, and a stork, the only one in Paris, perches on the gable all day long and keeps a crowd before the house. Grave servants are seen passing to and fro within; and from time to time the great gate is thrown open and a carriage rolls below the arch. For many reasons this residence was especially dear to the heart of Prince Florizel; he never drew near to it without enjoying that sentiment of home-coming so rare in the lives of the great; and on the present evening he beheld its tall roof and mildly illuminated windows with unfeigned relief and satisfaction.
As he was approaching the postern door by which he always entered when alone, a man stepped forth from the shadow and presented himself with an obeisance in the Prince's path.
'I have the honour of addressing Prince Florizel of Bohemia?' said he.
'Such is my title,' replied the Prince. 'What do you want with me?'
'I am,' said the man, 'a detective, and I have to present your Highness with this billet from the Prefect of Police.'
The Prince took the letter and glanced it through by the light of the street lamp. It was highly apologetic, but requested him to follow the bearer to the Prefecture without delay.
'In short,' said Florizel, 'I am arrested.'
'Your Highness,' replied the officer, 'nothing, I am certain, could be further from the intention of the Prefect. You will observe that he has not granted a warrant. It is mere formality, or call it, if you prefer, an obligation that your Highness lays on the authorities.'
'At the same time,' asked the Prince, 'if I were to refuse to follow you?'
'I will not conceal from your Highness that a considerable discretion has been granted me,' replied the detective with a bow.
'Upon my word,' cried Florizel, 'your effrontery astounds me! Yourself, as an agent, I must pardon; but your superiors shall dearly smart for their misconduct. What, have you any idea, is the cause of this impolitic and unconstitutional act? You will observe that I have as yet neither refused nor consented, and much may depend on your prompt and ingenuous answer. Let me remind you, officer, that this is an affair of some gravity.'
'Your Highness,' said the detective humbly, 'General Vandeleur and his brother have had the incredible presumption to accuse you of theft. The famous diamond, they declare, is in your hands. A word from you in denial will most amply satisfy the Prefect; nay, I go farther: if your Highness would so far honour a subaltern as to declare his ignorance of the matter even to myself, I should ask permission to retire upon the spot.'
Florizel, up to the last moment, had regarded his adventure in the light of a trifle, only serious upon international considerations. At the name of Vandeleur the horrible truth broke upon him in a moment; he was not only arrested, but he was guilty. This was not only an annoying incident - it was a peril to his honour. What was he to say? What was he to do? The Rajah's Diamond was indeed an accursed stone; and it seemed as if he were to be the last victim to its influence.
One thing was certain. He could not give the required assurance to the detective. He must gain time.
His hesitation had not lasted a second.
'Be it so,' said he, 'let us walk together to the Prefecture.'
The man once more bowed, and proceeded to follow Florizel at a respectful distance in the rear.
'Approach,' said the Prince. 'I am in a humour to talk, and, if I mistake not, now I look at you again, this is not the first time that we have met.'
'I count it an honour,' replied the officer, 'that your Highness should recollect my face. It is eight years since I had the pleasure of an interview.'
'To remember faces,' returned Florizel, 'is as much a part of my profession as it is of yours. Indeed, rightly looked upon, a Prince and a detective serve in the same corps. We are both combatants against crime; only mine is the more lucrative and yours the more dangerous rank, and there is a sense in which both may be made equally honourable to a good man. I had rather, strange as you may think it, be a detective of character and parts than a weak and ignoble sovereign.'
The officer was overwhelmed.
'Your Highness returns good for evil,' said he. 'To an act of presumption he replies by the most amiable condescension.'
'How do you know,' replied Florizel, 'that I am not seeking to corrupt you?'
'Heaven preserve me from the temptation!' cried the detective.
